Position and piece activity beat points
08 Dec '12 04:0710 editsThis is a game where I blundered early (as black), and lost my queen. Usually, I'd resign immediately. But something told me to keep on playing. This game illustrates that postiion and piece activity is more important than racking up points against your opponent.
The drama starts on move 21, if you'd like to skip to it.
The drama starts on move 21, if you'd like to skip to it.
| SITE | Chess.com |
| DATE | 2012.12.07 |
| WHITE | khosa1 |
| BLACK | vivify |
| RESULT | 0-1 |
| WHITEELO | 1167 |
| BLACKELO | 1293 |
| FEN | rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1 |
[Date "2012.12.07"]
[Result "0-1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[White "khosa1"]
[Black "vivify"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[WhiteElo "1167"]
[BlackElo "1293"]
1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 e6 3.a3 Nf6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.h4 Bd6 7.Nb5 Na6 8.Nxd6+ cxd6 9.f3 e5 10.e3 e4 11.Qd2 O-O 12.O-O-O exf3 13.Nxf3 Bg4 14.Be2 { Maybe I should've taken white's knight, since I'll be up in material if white recaptures with the bishop. But then, white's next move would've been Rf1; with my queen's rather limited mobility in this position, I didn't want to fall into any traps. } 14...Rac8 15.Bb5 Nc7 16.Be2 a6 17.g3 Nb5 18.Rhf1 Bf5 19.c3 Be4 20.a4 Na7 21.Ne5 { Mega blunder in 3...2...1... } 21...dxe5 22.Rxf6 { Unbelievable. How could I not see something so simple? } 22...gxf6 { I choose to play on. White is ahead in points, but not by much. I'm ahead in number of pieces to work with. } 23.Bd3 { I really don't want to trade; I need to keep the fact that I outnumber white to my adavantage. } 23...Bf3 24.Rf1 e4 25.Be2 Bg2 26.Rf2 Bh3 27.g4 { White REALLY wants to eliminate my bishop. } 27...f5 { Just a dumb move. I was hoping white would capture with the G pawn. } 28.Rxf5 { Didn't fall for it. } 28...Nc6 29.Rxd5 { That rook is seriously trying to go on a killing spree. } 29...Ne7 30.Rd7 Ng6 31.Rxb7 Nxh4 32.Re7 Nf3 { I chose this move, because trading my knight for white's bishop will reduce his advantage (bishops are better at this stage of the game); that, and I don't want to babysit my E pawn. This move will save it for at least a little while. } 33.Bxf3 exf3 34.Re4 f5 35.Rf4 { White's rook is bloodthirsty, in position to eliminate either pawn. } 35...Bxg4 { Perfect defense. white would have to sacrifice a major piece in order to break up my bishop and pawn trio. } 36.Qh2 Kg7 37.Qh4 { I almost forget about the Queen. It's been fairly inactive, on a board that's been rather cluttered board. } 37...Rce8 38.Kd2 Re6 39.Kd3 Rfe8 40.d5 { Bad move. I capitalize. } 40...Rxe3+ 41.Kd4 Re2 42.Kc5 { I thought a LONG time about what to do next here. This was a thirty-minute game, and I think I used up at least five minutes. I choose: } 42...Rxb2 { I needed more mobility, since I have white's king on the run. This freed up some space. } 43.d6 Rc8+ 44.Kd4 Rd2+ 45.Ke3 { I ignore capturing white's D pawn, because of white could fork my king and rook with a check on e7. So... } 45...Re2+ { I keep up the pressure on white's king. } 46.Kd4 f2 { This move, admittedly, was somewhat desperate. I wasn't sure what else to do. Sure, So I played it just to see what happens. } 47.Rxf2 { Hmm... } 47...Re4+ 48.Kd3 { YES!!!! } 48...Be2+ { All my hard work payed off. Had I traded my bishop like white wanted to immediately after capturing my queen, this chance wouldn't have come up. Glad I spared this guy. } 49.Rxe2 Rxh4 { A huge sigh of relief. I am now very significantly up in material. White may have had the queen, but she was ineffective. She wasn't used once in the last eleven moves, and only moved three times in the entire game. } 50.Re7+ Kf8 51.d7 { All I'm thinking here, is "Don't screw up." } 51...Rd8 52.Re8+ { Bad move on white's part, to gamble that I won't trade, when I'm up in material, so late in the game. } 52...Rxe8 53.dxe8=N { Cute. } 53...Kxe8 { I can only wonder white's emotions right now, to go from being ahead in materially, to desperately low. } 54.c4 Rh3+ 55.Kd4 f4 56.c5 { A race begins. But it's one that's futile. } 56...f3 57.c6 f2 58.c7 Kd7 59.c8=Q+ { Maybe hoping I'll forget that a king can capture? Feels good to kill white's queen twice. } 59...Kxc8 60.Kc5 f1=Q { And what a comeback. From down a queen and down in material, to getting my queen back and ending up in far superior position. } 61.Kb6 { black resigns, seeing how he'll be cornered in the next move. This was my best comeback ever. }
*
[Result "0-1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[White "khosa1"]
[Black "vivify"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[WhiteElo "1167"]
[BlackElo "1293"]
1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 e6 3.a3 Nf6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.h4 Bd6 7.Nb5 Na6 8.Nxd6+ cxd6 9.f3 e5 10.e3 e4 11.Qd2 O-O 12.O-O-O exf3 13.Nxf3 Bg4 14.Be2 { Maybe I should've taken white's knight, since I'll be up in material if white recaptures with the bishop. But then, white's next move would've been Rf1; with my queen's rather limited mobility in this position, I didn't want to fall into any traps. } 14...Rac8 15.Bb5 Nc7 16.Be2 a6 17.g3 Nb5 18.Rhf1 Bf5 19.c3 Be4 20.a4 Na7 21.Ne5 { Mega blunder in 3...2...1... } 21...dxe5 22.Rxf6 { Unbelievable. How could I not see something so simple? } 22...gxf6 { I choose to play on. White is ahead in points, but not by much. I'm ahead in number of pieces to work with. } 23.Bd3 { I really don't want to trade; I need to keep the fact that I outnumber white to my adavantage. } 23...Bf3 24.Rf1 e4 25.Be2 Bg2 26.Rf2 Bh3 27.g4 { White REALLY wants to eliminate my bishop. } 27...f5 { Just a dumb move. I was hoping white would capture with the G pawn. } 28.Rxf5 { Didn't fall for it. } 28...Nc6 29.Rxd5 { That rook is seriously trying to go on a killing spree. } 29...Ne7 30.Rd7 Ng6 31.Rxb7 Nxh4 32.Re7 Nf3 { I chose this move, because trading my knight for white's bishop will reduce his advantage (bishops are better at this stage of the game); that, and I don't want to babysit my E pawn. This move will save it for at least a little while. } 33.Bxf3 exf3 34.Re4 f5 35.Rf4 { White's rook is bloodthirsty, in position to eliminate either pawn. } 35...Bxg4 { Perfect defense. white would have to sacrifice a major piece in order to break up my bishop and pawn trio. } 36.Qh2 Kg7 37.Qh4 { I almost forget about the Queen. It's been fairly inactive, on a board that's been rather cluttered board. } 37...Rce8 38.Kd2 Re6 39.Kd3 Rfe8 40.d5 { Bad move. I capitalize. } 40...Rxe3+ 41.Kd4 Re2 42.Kc5 { I thought a LONG time about what to do next here. This was a thirty-minute game, and I think I used up at least five minutes. I choose: } 42...Rxb2 { I needed more mobility, since I have white's king on the run. This freed up some space. } 43.d6 Rc8+ 44.Kd4 Rd2+ 45.Ke3 { I ignore capturing white's D pawn, because of white could fork my king and rook with a check on e7. So... } 45...Re2+ { I keep up the pressure on white's king. } 46.Kd4 f2 { This move, admittedly, was somewhat desperate. I wasn't sure what else to do. Sure, So I played it just to see what happens. } 47.Rxf2 { Hmm... } 47...Re4+ 48.Kd3 { YES!!!! } 48...Be2+ { All my hard work payed off. Had I traded my bishop like white wanted to immediately after capturing my queen, this chance wouldn't have come up. Glad I spared this guy. } 49.Rxe2 Rxh4 { A huge sigh of relief. I am now very significantly up in material. White may have had the queen, but she was ineffective. She wasn't used once in the last eleven moves, and only moved three times in the entire game. } 50.Re7+ Kf8 51.d7 { All I'm thinking here, is "Don't screw up." } 51...Rd8 52.Re8+ { Bad move on white's part, to gamble that I won't trade, when I'm up in material, so late in the game. } 52...Rxe8 53.dxe8=N { Cute. } 53...Kxe8 { I can only wonder white's emotions right now, to go from being ahead in materially, to desperately low. } 54.c4 Rh3+ 55.Kd4 f4 56.c5 { A race begins. But it's one that's futile. } 56...f3 57.c6 f2 58.c7 Kd7 59.c8=Q+ { Maybe hoping I'll forget that a king can capture? Feels good to kill white's queen twice. } 59...Kxc8 60.Kc5 f1=Q { And what a comeback. From down a queen and down in material, to getting my queen back and ending up in far superior position. } 61.Kb6 { black resigns, seeing how he'll be cornered in the next move. This was my best comeback ever. }
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